Food trends come and go. So how can you tell which tastes are trending at this very moment?
We took a data-driven look at the question, using Yelp and SafeGraph, a dataset of commercial points of interest and their visitor patterns, to uncover which local businesses have been getting extra notice this month.
To find out who made the list, we first looked at New York City businesses on Yelp by category and counted how many reviews each received. Rather than compare them based on number of reviews alone, we calculated a percentage increase in reviews over the past month, and tracked businesses that consistently increased their volume of reviews to identify statistically significant outliers compared to past performance. Then we analyzed foot traffic data from SafeGraph to validate the trends.
Read on to see which spots are worth exploring, right now.
Mokyo
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about the East Village's Mokyo, the Asian fusion small plates restaurant is a hot topic, according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Tapas/Small Plates" on Yelp saw a median 2% increase in new reviews over the past month, Mokyo appeared on Yelp relatively recently. Many new businesses struggle to gain reviews, but it has seen a surge of interest.
Here's more about the business from Yelp: "Chef Kyungmin Kay Hyun was born and raised in Busan, Korea, known for unique dishes and fresh ingredients exclusive to Busan. Chef Kay studied and developed culinary knowledge both in Korea and the United States. Chef Kay graduated from the French Culinary Institute in 2008."
Open at 109 St. Mark's Place (between First Avenue and Avenue A) since December, Mokyo is the sister restaurant to Thursday Kitchen, Chef Kay's first solo venture, which opened in 2016. Like that spot, Mokyo, whose name is a playful Korean word for "Thursday," focuses on tapas with an Asian twist. Check out the lobster roll with celery relish, the gumbo with Korean chili, the beef tartare with quinoa furikake, the duck fried rice and more. Wine, beer and cocktails are also offered.
Mokyo is open from 6–10:30 p.m. on Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday and 6–11:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday. (It's closed on Monday.)
Cafe Fresco
The Upper East Side's Cafe Fresco is also making waves. The well-established deli, which can be found at the corner of First Avenue and East 67th Street, has seen a 2% bump in new reviews over the last month, on par with the median review increase of 2% for all businesses tagged "Bagels" on Yelp. However, as for foot traffic, the business saw visits more than triple over the past month, according to SafeGraph data.
The cafe offers coffee, sandwiches, salads, grab-and-go fare and, of course, fresh bagels. Over the past month, it's maintained a mixed three-star rating among Yelpers.
Cafe Fresco is open from 5 a.m.–8 p.m. on weekdays and 6 a.m.–6 p.m. on weekends. According to SafeGraph, it usually gets busy at noon, 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., and on Fridays and Thursdays, so go on Sundays if you want to avoid the rush.
Mexicoma
Also on the Upper East Side is Mexicoma, the city's buzziest Mexican spot by the numbers.
Mexicoma, which opened on the corner of Second Avenue and East 85th Street in January, is still relatively new to Yelp, but has seen a surge in reviews. Meanwhile, the median new review count for the Yelp category "Mexican" was up 1.9% over the past month.
Taking over a corner storefront that has seen a good amount of turnover in recent years, this Mexican bar and restaurant specializes in classic drinks and street food-style bar food, like tacos and burritos. Stop in on the weekend for the bottomless brunch special.
Mexicoma is open from 11 a.m.–midnight Sunday-Thursday and 11 a.m.–1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
